Deputies Charge 2 Men With Operating Chop Shop

MULBERRY | Polk County Sheriff's deputies have arrested a 30-year-old Mulberry man and a 24-year-old Dover man and charged them with running a chop shop.

By STEPHANIE ALLENTHE LEDGER

MULBERRY | Polk County Sheriff's deputies have arrested a 30-year-old Mulberry man and a 24-year-old Dover man and charged them with running a chop shop. Gary Williams of 4195 Hillgrade Road, Mulberry, was arrested Sunday. He is facing 68 charges, including 21 counts of grand theft, 19 counts for the possession or sale of a motor vehicle with an altered vehicle identification number, one count of criminal conspiracy and one count of owning and operating a chop shop.Deputies arrested Cody Caruthers, of 2227 Arch McDonald Drive, Dover, on Monday and charged him with 20 counts of grand theft and 17 counts of burglary of a conveyance.Deputies received information about a possible chop shop operation and searched the 10-acre property where Williams' lives on Saturday. Several pieces of heavy equipment, trailers, trucks and vehicles that have been reported stolen to five local law enforcement agencies since last July were discovered, a sheriff's report said. Along with the identified vehicle components, officers found several burglary tools and three burned U-Haul truck cabs missing all identification numbers. According to arrest reports, detectives discovered evidence that Williams was selling parts on Craigslist.com from several of the stolen Ford trucks found on the property. Williams' family told officers that he claimed he was purchasing the vehicles to salvage and then sell, reports said.Williams acknowledged that he knew all of the vehicles he purchased were missing identification numbers or titles, the sheriff's report said. According to reports, he did not have a license or permit to operate an auto salvage business and told officers he pays three or four men to help sell the vehicle components.Both men are being held at the Polk County Jail.Deputies are continuing to investigate the operation.